Chapter 145: People Who Only Hold Each Other Back
Konoha, Meeting Hall.
Two rows of Chūnin stood along either side of the hall, their eyes fixed on the Jōnin seated across from them. Some of them were witnessing a scene like this for the first time, and their nervousness showed. Every now and then, someone would swallow hard.
A long rectangular table occupied the center of the meeting hall. Several dozen people sat around the inner circle, including the heads of various clans and important personnel from different departments.
The highest-ranking officials of the administrative division, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
Nara Shikaku, captain of the Jōnin teams and the man responsible for commanding all of Konoha's Jōnin.
Uchiha Fugaku, captain of the Police Force.
Uchiha Asuka, captain of the Medical Corps, responsible for overseeing all medical shinobi in Konoha.
The head of the Interrogation Department.
All these influential figures, who were normally difficult for ordinary people to even notice, were gathered in this meeting hall.
Their expressions were cold, yet each of them radiated a dangerous aura. Whenever someone's gaze swept across them, it felt as though an invisible weight had settled heavily upon their shoulders.
Grrr.
Seeing the Medical Corps captain eating in the middle of the meeting, the Chūnin around him twitched.
Just as you'd expect from the most approachable medical department. Even in such a serious atmosphere, they can somehow make everyone feel much more relaxed.
Suddenly, the meeting hall's doors creaked open.
Everyone inside turned toward the entrance at the same time.
A blond man entered alongside two elderly men.
The scent of food immediately reached him.
The blond man's gaze lingered on Asuka for a moment before sweeping across the Jōnin in the room.
He smiled brightly.
"It's been a long time, everyone."
"Lord Hokage!"
"Lord Hokage! The Three Kings!"
The moment that smile appeared, the solemn atmosphere in the meeting hall vanished.
The cold expressions on the Jōnin's faces disappeared as well. They rose and respectfully greeted the newly arrived Fourth Hokage.
"Gentlemen, please sit."
Minato Namikaze took the seat at the head of the table, while Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi sat below him.
Thump.
Minato rested his elbows on the table, clasped his hands beneath his chin, and spoke with a serious expression.
"The purpose of this meeting concerns the negotiations that concluded recently."
"Following the defection of one of the Three Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, Kumogakure has become increasingly restless after leaving Konoha with the negotiated agreement."
"Sunagakure is also showing signs of unease while recovering from the defection of its former hero, Pakura."
"For reasons we don't yet understand, the Fourth Mizukage has turned his attention toward the Kaguya clan, which possesses a Kekkei Genkai. This has created a major rift between the two sides and may very well lead to war."
"For the time being, we need to reinforce our border forces to prevent any unexpected incidents."
Hearing this, Asuka couldn't help rolling his eyes.
He immediately thought of the scene where Obito had controlled the Fourth Mizukage.
Everything happening in Kirigakure right now must be his doing.
That bastard really lacks foresight.
If you kill the leaders of the Five Great Nations and frame hostile shinobi for it, then sneak into their villages and quietly tell the daimyō to beware of shinobi, eventually the villages will start preventing their own shinobi from disobeying them.
If you kill several generations of daimyō on top of that, wouldn't the entire shinobi world descend into complete chaos?
At that moment, an aged voice sounded from the front.
"For the next two months, the deployment of the village's shinobi forces will be handled by this old man and Shikaku."
"To prevent another war from breaking out, the Fourth Hokage and all Jōnin will undergo short-term intensive training in batches. The Third Hokage will assist the Hokage with his daily duties."
As he spoke, Danzo pulled a list from his pocket and continued.
"The training will take place at the ANBU Training Grounds. It will be closed training."
"First group: September 10th to September 18th — the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans."
"Second group: September 19th to September 27th — the Hyūga and Inuzuka clans."
"Third group: September 28th to October 5th."
"Fourth group: October 6th to October 14th — the Uchiha clan."
After reading out everyone's names, Danzo swept his gaze across the room.
Then his eyes landed on Hiruzen, and the muscles in his cheek twitched.
According to his original plan, he had intended to confine the entire Uchiha clan for half a month and release them once the Nine-Tails incident was over.
He hadn't expected Hiruzen to spend an entire night thinking about the matter and come up with this alternative.
Danzo then looked toward Asuka, who was secretly eating.
His eyes narrowed.
Although Kushina's explanation had been reasonable, Asuka's contact with the Nine-Tails yesterday still made him uneasy.
He suspected that someone within the Uchiha clan had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
And Uchiha Asuka was one of his prime suspects.
He still needed an opportunity to test him.
"Cough."
Hearing Hiruzen's faint cough, Danzo slipped the list back into his pocket and slowly spoke in his aged voice.
"As for Sunagakure, after investigation and discussion, we can dispatch a hundred-man force consisting of Jōnin and Chūnin to suppress their unrest."
The moment his voice fell silent, a booming voice rang throughout the meeting hall.
"The Uchiha clan will never submit!"
Hearing Madō's voice from behind him, Asuka leaned back in his chair and looked over his shoulder.
He muttered quietly,
"Opposed."
"Opposed."
Danzo's aged voice immediately followed.
Asuka shot a sideways glance at Uchiha Madō, then raised his hand and spoke loudly.
"I'll go."
"Opposed."
Danzo rejected him without hesitation.
At present, he couldn't allow any Uchiha to leave his sight.
Asuka crossed his arms.
"Elder Danzo, how about we go together?"
Shimura Danzo shook his head again, his expression solemn.
"My position is too sensitive. Going to the front without authorization could easily reignite the war that has only just been brought under control."
Seeing the eager look on Minato's face, Hiruzen patted him on the shoulder and shook his head.
"The Hokage is the general. Unless there's a crisis, he shouldn't move personally."
Someone below raised another suggestion.
"Why not release Lady Tsunade? She has experience fighting Sunagakure."
Asuka shook his head.
"Don't even think about it. Tsunade just left with her money. Until she spends every last bit of it, you won't be able to contact her."
"What about Jiraiya-sama?"
"Jiraiya-sama is pursuing Orochimaru. He can't return either."
[…]
Seeing everyone in the meeting hall throwing each other's names around, Kakashi snorted and stepped forward again.
He faced Minato.
"I'll go."
Before Minato could even hesitate, the Jōnin below began growing restless one after another.
No.
Do you really think Konoha would send a fourteen-year-old child to the front lines?
Kakashi glanced at the Jōnin who had once again fallen into an argument and couldn't help sighing deeply.
Is leading a team to the front really that difficult?
Does it really matter who goes?
The argument continued.
By the time the detailed battle plan was finally settled, five hours had passed.
None of the Uchiha Jōnin had been given permission to leave the village.
Kakashi, who desperately wanted to go to the front, hadn't been given permission either.
Danzo, who had no desire to leave the village in the first place, naturally hadn't been given permission either.
After leaving the meeting hall, Asuka stood at a high vantage point and looked down at the sea of people below.
He sighed and fell into thought.
"October 6th to October 14th…"
"That should be around Kushina's due date, right?"
"Time really flies."